Designing Artwork for Digital Printing Minimizing Ink Usage Color Matching Existing Packaging Utilizing Halftone Emulation Presented by: Josh McNaughton 251.473.6502 jmcnaughton@xante.com

Minimizing Ink Usage Printing Solids vs Full Color Full color / photographic images are typically much lower ink coverage than solid fills creating a value-add opportunity for digital printing. Example: A customer needs 1000 9x9x9 corrugated RSC printed only on two panels. Their current packaging artwork is 2 color, however, their corporate logo is a full color logo.

Minimizing Ink Usage Printing Solids vs Full Color The 2 color artwork below would have an ink consumption of 200mL per 1000 boxes printed on the digital printer.

Minimizing Ink Usage 25% Ink Savings! Printing Solids vs Full Color Artwork upgraded using the customers actual full color logo along with a hi-res image of a dog consumes 150mL of ink per 1000 boxes printed digitally. 25% Ink Savings! New Full Color Box uses customer's actual logo Full Color Box is 25% less expensive to print digitally Huge Value-Add for the customer and sales team

Minimizing Ink Usage Avoid Using Additional Ink Large flood fills are commonly used on Flexo printed boxes. These flood fills can be very expensive on a digital printer due to the higher cost of digital ink. Removing ink from areas the consumer would not see can help save valuable ink and help reduce costs and price to the customer.

Minimizing Ink Usage Avoid Using Additional Ink Example on right shows all 4 flaps top and bottom of a 9x9x9 RSC being printed. The total ink consumption is 630ml per 500 boxes printed digitally.

Minimizing Ink Usage Avoid Using Additional Ink The adjusted example on the right shows only the top outer flaps having the yellow fill. The total ink consumption is 414ml per 500 boxes printed digitally. Removing ink from 6 flaps saved 216mL of ink or a 34% decrease of ink per 500 boxes printed digitally.

Color Matching Existing Packaging How to use color matching tools to quickly match existing packaging colors A PDF file designed with spot colors is opened in the iQueue RIP software.

Color Matching Existing Packaging Selecting RightOn from the job ticket displays the spot colors assigned within the PDF.

Color Matching Existing Packaging The operator can select a spot color and replace with any spot color within the library including GCMI and Pantone colors OR Select print a swatch page to create a RightOn swatch of the spot color selected

Color Matching Existing Packaging The RightOn swatch page is then printed on the same material as the job. Variations of the original target spot color are noted with a unique color number and CMYK values. The chart can be used along side a previously printed box to compare color printed from a separate press, then select the desired color by noting the RightOn number.

Color Matching Existing Packaging The operator then goes back to the RightOn tab of the original job and enters the RightOn number from the swatch. The original color is replaced by the new color. The operator can also choose to always make this color change. The software also allows spot colors to have CMYK levels adjusted manually or save the spot with unique name and add it to the library for future use.

Halftone Emulation Within RIP Software Examples of Combining Digital With Flexo 1. Customer orders large Flexo order, needs 20 extra 2 weeks later 2. Customer is ordering a large Flexo order, needs 20 samples over-nighted 3. Customer requires an additional short run order with different artwork Corrugated packaging printed on a Flexo press typically has a much lower line screen per inch (LPI) than a modern digital printer. Digitally printed corrugated without any halftone screening adjustment may be a considerably higher resolution than Flexo due to digital printers commonly being up to 1600dpi or more currently. This can be a negative factor in the sample process (the sample being a higher quality than the production order) or when splitting a job between a digital printer and a Flexo press.

Halftone Emulation Within RIP Software The digital printer's RIP software allows the operator to choose a halftone dot shape, specify an LPI, as well as, choose screen angles to match the specifications used on the Flexo press.

Halftone Emulation Within RIP Software Using the LPI and halftone settings of your Flexo press will make digitally printed output more closely match your Flexo production runs. This allows the digital printer to be a better sample or proofing device as well as allowing the ability to split orders between analog and digital equipment to be more efficient.

Utilize ALL of Your Available Digital Tools Digital printers and software provide a huge inventory of tools for your business. Learning and utilizing these tools will: Help make the digital transition smooth Aid in salespeople finding digital business Increase efficiency of digital printing Increase your production capabilities

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